Researchers from Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab have devised an attack exploiting fast chargers. Dubbed BadPower, the attack may exploit the feature to throw excessively high voltage to the devices causing them to burn.
Sharing the details in a blog post, the researchers explained that a potential attacker may hack the respective fast charger and rewrite its firmware code to change the voltage delivered.
While most chargers deliver 5V power as a standard, the hacking attack may cause them to deliver up to 20V. This excessive voltage may damage the hardware of the power receiving equipment, even triggering a burn.
sounds like a good excuse to trigger a fire alarm …
I have the same response as I had with the BadUSB attack: why spend so much money on this when a large rock is free and more effective at destroying a laptop/phone?
Rock is more easily connected to the culprit, then a time-bombed power supply sabotage.
Some teenagers might get a “I’m leet haxxor” feeling out of this
And going into horror dreamland altogether, you won’t be able to plug in a charger into wall socket without it automatically calling home and getting firmware update. Then there will be a mass attack, because if something can be done, it will be done.
Anyway, why a firmware in a charger at all? Dumb things are way easier to work as intended. Just what requires turing-complete logic in a charger?
What was that name of the hand generator model they used in WWII Pacific movie to power the HF radio? The one where the brawny islander had to keep cranking hand over hand in the canoe?
The Firmware is on the Phones side Power Management isn’t it?
So this is a Attack with a wrong Hardware, like the Cable for Connection. Or like any attack on the Phones Hardware and then from Root or over the Internet.
However, Mark your Cables, and Hardware and disconnect Internet through your power supply or WLAN. And put your Phone during Load at a Location it can burn down. Without Burning your House. And you are save if you have a Data Backup from your Phone too.
my boot will do just fine … but it’s unlikely that i’ll be able to tell just at a first glance if i’ve managed to inflict ENOUGH damage to it in order to render it completely UN-repurposeful (salvageable) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mciEZKSvva8 < sry about snoop-tube link but this person insists to keep on posting content without offering an alternative (more ethical) service for streaming/downloading the same content …
it’s like they say " if you want something done right you have to do it yourself !"
